“We are extremely disappointed to read the media release issued by
Coperforma Ltd today (11 April).
“SECAmb acted professionally throughout the transfer process and
we are extremely proud of the service of our staff over many years.
We typically provided approximately 25,000 journeys per month,
taking patients to and from their home as well as a wide range of
destinations including acute hospital and community providers.
While this work was never without its challenges, SECAmb’s patient
satisfaction survey results were consistently above 90 per
cent.
“The new contract, as put out to tender by the lead
commissioner, High Weald Lewes Havens CCG, did not allow any single
organisation to bid to be both the Managed Service Provider (MSP)
and a transport provider. Therefore, regrettably, SECAmb was not
able to tender a bid to become the MSP. We had hoped to work with
the new MSP to provide some of the transport provision but the
commercial terms offered made this impossible.
“As previously explained, the transition plan for the Patient
Transport Service contract required that the data transfer for
patients was the responsibility of the Patient Transport Bureau
(PTB), not SECAmb. The PTB, which was independent of our
organisation and maintained the full database of patient journeys,
was the contact point for patients requiring to book transport.
“SECAmb and its staff side representatives co-operated fully at
all stages of the service transfer, beginning with an initial
consultation with Coperforma at the beginning of January. These
meeting continued throughout January and February with 1:1 meetings
for staff transferring to Coperforma commencing on 15 February up
until the transfer.
“We were not in a position to release staff prior to the
transfer date as we had to continue providing the service across
the county up until the point of formal transfer; this approach was
agreed at the time with the CCG.”